Russell Wilson joins group bringing Sonics back

Russell Wilson has always been a big supporter in bringing the Sonics back to Seattle, but a consistent battle with local politicians and NBA protection have all but thrown away any hopes of it happening.

The Sonics left behind a legacy of 41 years after Starbucks and former Sonics owner Howard Schultz sold the team to Clay Bennett, from Oklahoma City. He had to sell the team because remodeled Key Arena, praised as one of the best arenas in the NBA by commissioner David Stern in 1995 was no longer suitable by NBA standards in 2008, 13 years later.

Struggling to find a solution, Schultz sold out Sonics fans by reaching an agreement with Bennett, who said he would put in a “good faith effort” to build an arena in the PNW and keep the team. Emails were breached between Bennett and his partner Aubrey McClendon which showed Bennett’s true intention was to move the team to Oklahoma City, citing he was “A man possessed” to do so. Sonics fans did not take this lightly, forming rallies and a Save Our Sonics Movement.

Source: Twitter

Fast forward a few years and you have a starving fan base looking to fill the void. I’m one of them. It’s nearly 2017 and the Sonics have yet to return to Seattle. Countless efforts were made to acquire a team, and it all started with Chris Hansen and now Los Angeles Clippers owner agreeing to move forward with a carefully reviewed process to build an arena using public funding to be paid back (in Seattle you can’t use public funds to build an arena see here) in the south end of Seattle. Seattle fans were more pumped than Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Rogers Clemens and Mark McGuire on steroids.

First, it was the NBA denying the sale of the Sacramento Kings to Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer, then Ballmer leaving the group to purchase the Clippers, only to have them remain in Los Angeles. Then the Seattle City Council denied the group a street vacation required to build the arena, citing concerns of traffic flow and later receiving misogynistic comments from a minimal pool of the community. Its led to uncertainty over wheter the project finishes, even with rumors of expansion swirling of NBA expansion.

Who is more fit for Seattle to save the day then Russell Wilson? The man brought Seattle its first ever Super Bowl victory and has often shown he loves the city of Seattle. He doubled down on that in his most recent article here: